In episode seven of season two, Balsillie School of International Affairs' Postdoctoral Fellow James Manicom discusses the complex network of alliances, rivalries and regional governance structures at play in East Asian politics today. Resource competition in the South China Sea, Sino-Taiwanese tension, increasing economic dynamism and the role of the American diplomacy are all combining to produce one the world's most intensely-governed regions, Manicom says, which will continue to challenge the international community for years and decades to come.